There Is Nor Respect For Boundaries In Businesses As They ALL Become EVERYTHING to EVERY CUSTOMER So That No One Has To Go Anywhere Else / What's Wrong With This?!? EVERYTHING, That's What : READ On!!

I attended a local ANC Meeting in Washington D.C. where there's an agenda to discuss many issues and often the crowd gathered is allowed to ask questions at some point. The meetings draw on and on and on and on and your brain starts to atrophy and you begin to wonder if you will ever be able to discuss your concern? This is how it happened awhile ago when Wallgreens wanted to get a Liquor license for one of their stores to sell beer and wine. They had their lawyers there and finally they were allowed to state their case to the public gathered. The lawyers for Walgreens said that they had had requests to sell certain beer and certain wines and that they were applying for a license to sell both so that they could be more to their customers. The lawyers asked basically, and I paraphrase : " What's wrong with that? Is there anything wrong with wanting to be more to their customers? It's a nice concept, it's a considerate concern, yet the bottom line is that it's ultimately self-serving and it does not respect the boundaries that have been established for years that define stores and their identities and what and what not they sell. It's an old concept, it's been crumbling now for years, and recently it's been crumbling at lightning speed in our current " Me " society where it is all about the individual or individual corporation. I listened patiently and wondered when it would be my turn to speak, that I had waited there patiently in the local police precinct and wanted my turn / my say. Well, it finally came, I finally got a chance as I was addressed by name by one of the several council members there. She simply asked : " Tony do you have any comment? " Of course I had a comment, I had been turning this over in my mind now for days , and even more intently for the last few hours. I said simply to the lawyer : " Well then why don't we sell some drugs to make up for the business that we lose by Wallgreens selling some beer and wine? " You would have thought I said something insulting and mean because to see the expression on the lawyers' faces was priceless. It was like I had crossed their boundaries of what may and may not be done or said. I continued : " For that matter, why don't we sell everything that a customer wants so that we can be everything to every customer : and so the customer does not have to go anywhere else anymore?!? Wouldn't that be good for our customers? " At that point the room was silent and it was awkward and I was thinking quickly where to take this further? That's when one of the council members decided it was time for them to vote on the measure before them. They took a vote, they, too were tired of being there and had families to return home to like the rest of us. I made my point but legally they did not have any grounds on which to deny their support of Wallgreens selling both beer and wine. So they ultimately gave their consent and the meeting continued onto the next issue to discuss. I got up and walked out, I had spoken my peace, I had said what needed to be said. So now Wallgreens sells inexpensive beer and wine and it hurts our bottom line as we are only a traditional, classic beer, liquor and wine store as they were set up decades ago. We suffer as do all the similar traditional beer, liquor and wine stores. Our boundaries have been crossed and invaded by well-paid lawyers and our businesses have all suffered as a result. We are still in business but we are struggling like never before. It's tough, it's bit hard : it's what I always refer to as " sobering ". I think that's an ironic thing to say in our environment - it does not quite seem fitting somehow : and yet it's dead-on fitting! We have been here for many years before Walgreens, and if we have anything to say or do about it we will be here for many more. It's been great to support our community here. I have done it myself now for about fifteen years and feel good and sleep well at night except when I hear and see again in my dreams and thoughts those Walgreen lawyers that send a shudder through me. Might is not necessarily right if not yielded without care and respect for traditional boundaries that have worked for many years before and deserve their space in the context of our busy lives. Cheers, Anthony ( TONY ) Quinn 7/30/13